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The story begins with the Joker and his gang attempting a robbery on the Gotham Electric Company. Joker instructs one of his men, Bragg, to sneak into the basement of the building and cut the power. Meanwhile, he and the rest of his gang boldly walk in, taking advantage of the distraction to rob the company blind. However, he has made one vital mistake in his plan - his intended method of escape, the elevator, no longer works, as the power had been cut.

Flustered and embarrassed, Joker and his men head for the stairs instead, but are cut off by Batman and Robin. The Joker and his men manage to escape by throwing a match into some film processing chemicals, lighting the building on fire, but are forced to leave behind their loot. The next morning, news of the Joker's blunder is plastered over every newspaper in Gotham, naming the incident "The Boner of the Year".

Furious at his new title, the Joker vows revenge by committing more crimes themed after historical "boners". On one night, he and his men sneak down to the Gotham River and change the buoys, intending to trick a steamship into running aground like the famous battleship Missouri. The ploy works, and the ship becomes hopeless stuck in the muddy banks of the shallow river, allowing the Joker and his men to rob it of the diamond collection aboard.

While the newspapers report his first "boner" crime, the Joker plans his second one, this time based off of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. His target is the home of oil tycoon "King Stanley", an authentic castle transported stone by stone from Europe. Under the cover of night, the Joker and his men sneak beneath the bell tower of the castle and remove the layers of soil around it, causing the tower to lean over after a heavy storm much like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Using the leaning tower, Joker and his men are able to scale the walls of the castle and rob it.

News of the second "boner" crime soon finds itself around Gotham as well, attracting the attention of Batman and Robin. The Joker then delivers a threat to Batman across Gotham's radio airwaves, declaring that he would make Batman the laughingstock of Gotham City. The Dynamic Duo use a powerful machine in the Batcave to try and track the broadcasting signal, and in the meantime, study up on the great blunders of history.

The Joker soon plans his third "boner" crime - this time, to free one of his men, Danny, from prison. To this end, he creates a ploy similar to the escape of John Dillinger, who tricked a guard into opening his cell with a wooden gun. A week later, Danny receives a wooden gun, which he threatens the guard with. The guard brushes off the gun as fake, which Danny counters by slamming it against the bars of his cell, creating a metallic sound. Terrified, the guard gives him the keys. Subsequently, it is revealed that the Joker had instructed Danny to slam the ring on his pinky finger against the bars and pretend it was the gun, as to fool the guard.

Commissioner Gordon meets with Batman and Robin, and expresses both distress at how the "boner" crimes are making the police look bad, and concern at what the Joker has planned for Batman. Subsequently, Batman and Robin are able to correctly guess the Joker's next intended "boner" crime, this one based off of the mythical Trojan Horse. The target is a warehouse filled with a fortune in furs, which he and his gang intend to sneak into by hiding inside a model of the Trojan Horse built for an upcoming movie entitled Greek Victory.

The Joker and his men, disguised as the "extra" Greek Soldiers for the film, sneak into the model horse, and under the cover of night, rob the warehouse. The next morning, however, Batman and Robin arrive, and express their intent to check the inside of the Trojan Horse. Cornered, the Joker and his gang burst out and battle with the Dynamic Duo - a battle tipped against them. To their fortune, however, Robin suddenly slips on a spot of grease and almost falls off of the horse, providing a distraction that allows the Joker and his men to get away.

Though he managed to escape, the Joker is furious that he has been forced to leave behind his loot yet again, and decides to put his plan to make a laughingstock out of Batman into action. In a few days' time, Batman and Robin would fly to California to testify in a trial - a flight that the Joker would disturb using a "directional beam transmitter". He intends to make a "Wrong-Way Corrigan" out of the Dark Knight, as the beam would cause the plane to head for Europe instead.

The Joker's plan is apparently a success, as the Batplane ends up in England instead of California. Newspapers all around print stories about "Batman's Greatest Boner". The Joker, meanwhile, is in hysterics about "Wrong-Way Batman", and holds a banquet at his hideout for his gang in celebration. Suddenly, the door bursts open - Batman, Robin, and an entire mob of policemen swarm in. Batman then reveals that he knew what the Joker was trying to do, and that the Batplane could have shaken off the beam. He, however, had allowed it to take effect in order to track its source, allowing him to pinpoint the Joker's hideout. The Joker and his gang are swiftly arrested, and the city's faith in Batman restored.

This story became infamous for its heavy usage of the term "boner", which meant "mistake" back in the early 1950s. Scans of the story circulate around the internet to this day, including on many websites such as Superdickery.com.

The Joker's "boner" crimes are homages to the following events and people: